I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

 

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

 

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

 

Working on this poem in class, manipulating stresses and pauses we had three different interpretations today:

 

1. The speaker was somewhat triumphant, teasing. The note was from a partner after a good-natured argument over whether plums should be kept in an ice box.

 

2. The message was an email probably sent company-wide from the CEO, business-like, entitled, with but a perfunctory apology.

 

3. The writer was a glutton, probably still eating, whose delight in the plums far outweighs any other message and whose written apology is probably obscured by fat splashes of juice on the page.

 

I’m fascinated by the meaning each speaker gave the words and the pictures they created.